Fuse Box Monday

Yinzers,

Four games to cover, so this one will be dry.

Monday November 22: Pens v. Panthers
It seems like forever since the Penguins have played good against a Floridian opponent, but they out-played the Panthers dahn in Miami last week. The Pens won 3-2 with a huge boost on the power play, scoring two of such goals. The red-hot Kris Letang had one of said goals and Sidney Crosby is now hot as well scoring the other. The game-winner came from Chris Connor at 12:56 in the third period to give the Pens the 3-2 victory. The Panther goals were scored by Cory Stillman and Brian McCabe. Marc-Andre Fleury continued to shine as he turned away 27 of 29. All the dads were in attendance.

Wednesday November 24: Pens v. Sabres
Dads game number two was a shiner for Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury turned away 30 of 30 in the 1-0 shut out of the Sabres. Pittsburgh native (and former school-mate of yours truly) Michael Weber made the starting lineup for Buffalo on defense. He generated one shot in 11:33 of ice time. I wish him the best of luck in his young career. Pascal Dupuis had the only goal in the contest at 12:05 in the first.

Friday November 26: Sens v. Pens
Black Friday did not bode well for Sergei Gonchar and the Ottawa Senators when they came to the burgh. Gonchar has had a rough go since leaving the Pens with a +/- of -12. The Penguins would take this one 2-1 in regulation with goals coming from Evgeni Malkin and Alex Goligoski, both of which were on the power play. Ottawa got the game-opening goal from Jesse Winchester. The biggest news from this game was Marc-Andre Fleury opting to drop his gloves and take a roughing penalty when Chris Neil did what he does best and got in Fleury's face. Fleury turned away 43 of 44 and continues to stay hot.

Saturday November 27: Flames v. Pens
The Penguins looked like last year's club did when the Western Conference Calgary Flames came to town. The Pens dominated this one from the get-go (not at Giant Eagle) winning handily 4-1. Aaron Asham got things started at 6:56 in the first and then Sidney Crosby took over, grabbing the hat trick. Rene Bourque broke up the natty hatty with the only Flame goal. Deryk Engelland was back in the lineup and got into a fight with Tim Jackman in the second period. What else is new? Brent Johnson stopped 30-31 and the Penguins are looking dangerous with MAF and Brent both playing great hockey.

The Pens are now 15-8-2, second in the Atlantic Division behind the Philthadelphia Flyers by two points (34-32) and fourth in the league. What is more important is that they are red-hot right now. The power play is getting goals and the penalty kill has killed off something like 70+ in a row. The Pens have won 6 straight and are 9-1-1 in their last 11.

The Pens play Monday, Thursday and Saturday this week against the Rangers, Thrashers and Blue Jackets, respectively. All games are at 7:00.